A two-sport star in college, the Lynx power forward is now focusing solely on basketball -- and making up for lost time.

Throughout high school and college, Kristin Folkl balanced her desire to play both basketball and volleyball. As good as she was at hoops--she was named to both the Kodak All-America Team and All-Pac-10 First Team in 1997-98--she was even better at volleyball, leading Stanford to two consecutive NCAA championships and being named an alternate for the 1996 Olympic Volleyball Team.

At one point, in fact, Folkl quit basketball to focus solely on volleyball during her junior ear. But she returned late in the season when the basketball team suffered a string of injuries. She liked the results so much, she came back to hoops her senior year to led Stanford in scoring and rebounding.

At that point, she decided to pursue a pro basketball career, but suffered a torn ACL in her left knee in March 1998, which caused her to miss the entire 1998 WNBA season. After a strenuous rehab, she rebounded to play in all 32 games for the Lynx in 1999, averaging 4.9 points per game.

Folkl spent the past offseason in Australia playing for the Melbourne Tigers, which only helped to improve her game. After starting only one game for the Lynx in 1999, she has started every game this season, nearly doubling her playing time while averaging 8.8 points and almost five rebounds per game. Most important, though, her confidence has come back, which has enabled her to return to her previous high level of play.

Gball: Do you feel you're playing better this year than last?
Folkl: I think I'm playing much, much better this year. I would say a big factor is having more confidence from having one year under my belt and playing overseas. But my legs are also stronger and that's helped my play as well.

Was the ACL tear your first serious injury?
Oh yeah, by far. I was always very fortunate growing up. I'd have an occasional strain or maybe a jammed finger, but nothing that ever required surgery. So when the ACL injury happened, it was a complete shock. I was devastated, and I barely knew how to act.

Recovery can be as much a mental effort as a physical one.
Oh sure, that was one of the things I struggled with the most--how do you rehab and stick to doing the grind day in and day out? But I got through it, and I'm glad I did.

How tough was it adjusting to the level of play in the WNBA?
The WNBA has the highest level of players in the world, so for anyone coming straight out of college it's quite a jump. It's all the things that are obvious--people are stronger, faster, most experienced than you. But you have good teammates who help you through it. I felt like I had a few people who took me under their wing and showed me the ropes, and that helped my transition.

What led you to go to Australia to play ball last fall versus going to Europe or Asia?
Two of my teammates from last year played for Sydney and are from there. Towards the end of our WNBA season, they asked, 'Why don't you come down? We could use a player of your size and you speak the language.' How often do you get to Australia? I thought, 'It sounds good to me,' so I went. But there was a still a transition, because you're 8,000 miles from home. But there are a lot of other things you don't have to worry about--you can eat the food, speak the language, and drive.

What was the level of play like down there?
The level of play is different from here. It's a little slower paced and players one through seven aren't overall as athletic. But they're definitely more well rounded than the average player here. So the athleticism wasn't so much a concern as having to guard big people who could dribble or shoot outside. So I wasn't just guarding people who had their backs to the basket, but who were facing up. That helped me a lot, though.

I recently read a quote of yours in which you raved about Lauren Jackson, the 19-year-old 6'5" center from Australia. Is she the best player down there who's not in the WNBA?
She's definitely very good. It's hard to say how she would stack up here, and she might have a rough transition the first year because she's still very young, so the emotional factors might weigh in more heavily. But she's a phenomenal athlete--she's tall, fast, jumps well, does every aspect of the game well. So if she's not one of the best in the world now, in two or three years she's going to be.

At Stanford, you played both basketball and volleyball. Was it always important for you to balance the two in high school and college?
I've always felt that playing two sports has helped me out because I never had the opportunity to get burned out on one or the other. The downside, which my coaches always told me, was I never got to specialize in just one. I saw their point, but if I was burned out anyway, then I doubt I would've practiced extra to get better. But it also helped me stay away from getting injured, because I was constantly using different muscles in the different sports.

In high school I played both, so I thought I'd at least like to try it in college. That helped me whittle down my choices to schools that would let me play both. Stanford said it would give me a go. I definitely focused more on volleyball during college, so I still feel I'm lacking a lot of the experience that even younger WNBA players have. In college, I actually quit basketball for six months, and the only reason I got back into it was all the post players got injured simultaneously. So I played the last 10 games of the season my junior year, and thought 'This isn't so bad.' I went back and played my senior year, after missing almost two years. It was strange twist of fate.

Have you closed the door on your volleyball at this point?
I think so. It would be practically impossible to play both sports at this level, but I also don't have the desire to compete at that level anymore in volleyball. It was great while I did, and I had a blast and got to see other parts of the world I never would have seen otherwise. But I feel like I did my time, enjoyed it, and now the door is closed.

The WNBA season has a compressed schedule this summer to get done before the Sydney Olympics. Has that been tough for you?
Actually, with the four expansion teams, it makes it even harder because we have increased games in about four days less than last year. It doesn't sound like a lot, but you can play three games in four days, and that adds up. The season is always tough, because you have to travel so much. You don't have time to recoup, and as a result people get tired. But this year is better, personally--having gone through it once, you know better what you have to do to get through the tough spots. Right now is one of the tough spots, smack dab in the middle of the season. There's not the freshness of beginning the season, but you're not near the end. It's like a sophomore slump in college, where you're stuck in the middle.

Have you made plans for the upcoming offseason yet?
I haven't made any firm plans. I'm looking at some teams overseas in Europe, but I'm also entertaining the idea of trying to get a job in the offseason here, possibly with one of the WNBA's corporate sponsors.

Does your college major have any relevance toward a possible career?
Not really. I was an economics major and I can't see myself being an economist [laughs]. But I can see myself going into some kind of sports-related business. It's very vague at this point, so I need to jump in and try a few things--get my feet wet before I decide.

A lot of girls wonder what it takes to be a pro player? Do you have any advice to pass on?
Sure. I would say that first, just believe that you can do it. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't or you shouldn't. It really does start when you're young--it's a building process, where if you work on it a little everyday, you're going to get there. It's not something you can achieve in a day or a year. It takes playing in high school, playing in college--it's an obtainable goal, but you've got to want to do it and you've got to keep at it.

On your bio page on WNBA.com, it says you've worn the same number, 24, since fifth grade. Any reason why?
That's not so much a superstition. It's more I wore it in high school because that was the number I got, and in college, they asked me if I still wanted the same number, so I said, 'I guess so.' But I wouldn't be all that crushed if someone else wanted it next year.

Do you have any spare time during the season? What do you do to relax?
I really like to be outdoors, so if I have a full day off, I like to go hiking--it doesn't matter where--around the lake, through the woods. But that's few and far between. I like to read a lot, just about anything, especially books or magazines.

What books have you read lately?
I'm in the middle of a book called While I was Gone, by Sue Miller. It's an Oprah book club selection, and I'm enjoying that. The one I read before that was almost like a textbook--it was a little dry--called Cultural Literacy, a book on the importance of having a broad base of knowledge that's universal through a specific society and the relevance that it has.

Do you get recognized a lot walking around Minneapolis, like at the mall or at the movies?
Sometimes, but it's not like Michael Jordan getting flocked to by people. Every once in a while, if someone knows basketball or has been to a game, they'll stop me and ask me, 'Aren't you so and so?' It makes you feel good, but it's nothing close to star status, not even close.

Interview conducted by Gball Assistant Editor Jim Catalano.